Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Joseph Engel was drafted to the Polish Army Wojsko Polskie.

After the war, Joseph Engel joined a kibbutz hakhshara in Budapest,
He travelled to Italy with a group of border smugglers, where he became one of the founders of a kibbutz hachshara in Firenze.

In December, 1945, 4 days prior to sailing, Zalman Perach, who served as Palyam פלי"ם Commander‎ מפקד aboard Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני, reached the boat.

On January 7-9, 1946, Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני sailed from Vado Ligure, carrying 908 passengers.
Palmach Information Center cites on January 9th 1946 Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני sailed from a port north of Savona.
Tzvi Katznelson cites Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני sailed on January 9, 1946, carrying 900 passengers.
Paul H. Silverstone's Aliyah Bet Project cites Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני sailed from Vado on January 7, 1946, carrying 908 passengers. Many refugees were former partisans, 551 men, 357 women.
Amuta Yam.org cites Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני sailed from Vado Ligure on January 9, 1946, carrying 908 passengers.
Tvi Ben-Tzur cites: "Among the Ma’apilim was a group of children called “The Children of Salvino”, who were orphans, survivors of the Holocaust, gathered by the
members of the Jewish units in the British Army and cared for in a camp erected for them in the village of Salvino."
Miccheno Giovanni served as Captain aboard Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני., and the deckhands and engine room personnel were Italian.
Zalman Perach served as Palyam פלי"ם Escort מלווה‎‎, and Palyam פלי"ם Commander מפקד aboard Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני.
Gershon Etzion served as Gidoni גדעוני, wireless radio operator, aboard Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני.
Tzvi Katznelson and Gad Lasker served as Palyam פלי"ם Escorts מלווים aboard Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני.

Giovanni Miccheno served as Captain aboard Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני, and Tzvi Katznelson cites: the crew was Italian.

Zalman Perach served as Palyam Escort מלווה‎ פלי"ם‎, and Palyam Commander פלי"ם‎ מפקד, aboard Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני.

Gershon Etzion served as Gidoni גדעוני, wireless radio operator, aboard Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני.

Tzvi Katznelson and Gad Lasker served as Palyam Escorts מלווים פלי"ם aboard Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני.

On January 7-9, 1946, Joseph Engel sailed on Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני from Vado Ligure to Palestine.

On January 17, 1946, Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני arrived off the coast of Palestine.
HMS Talybont intercepted Enzo Sereni אנצו סרני, about 70 miles from the shore of Palestine,
Tzvi Ben-Tzur cites: "This was the first time that a vessel had been taken into custody outside the territorial waters; for this reason Ha’Mossad Le’Aliya Bet decided to bring the Mandatory government to trial – through the ‘front man’ who was the legal owner of the vessel."
The British forced her to sail to Haifa חיפה, where the passengers were offloaded, and interned at Atlit Detention Camp.

Joseph Engel set out to guard the fields of kibbutz Gesher קיבוץ גשר with a friend, and they were ambushed by a gang and bothe were killed.